Learning To Trust You
by dellasworkshop
Summary: Tigress was thrilled to be adopted by Shifu, but, why has he told her nothing about her past? where did she come from? why is she having flashbacks about things she can't remember? join her as she grows from five years old to adulthood, and how she discovers who she is. Rated T for intense kung fu action and maybe some mild rude humor. Shippings; PoxOc, possible OcxOc
1. Chapter 1, amber mountain

chapter one, amber mountain

A light snow was falling, dusting the magnolia forest in powdered white. a group of students from the Academy of the Jade Palace were trekking up the mountain, on their way to the shrine of Amber Mountain, where each one of them would be initiated into the noble world of Kung Fu. Zhang Lei, a simian monkey boy, shivered. "This looks like a pretty good place to camp for the night, don't you think?" most of the group agreed, except for Tai, a snow leopard with boundless energy."Come on guy! We're almost there!" Shi Long Zhi, a lioness cub and Tai's sweetheart, said, "oh, Tai! I know we're close, but it's getting dark." Wen Rou, an owlet, added,"And some among us get grumpy at night," under her breath. In the end, the friendly bickring gave way to the group's leaders, Masters Shifu and and Oogwei, to step in. "Young ones, what are you fighting about?" Oogwei said. Rong Mou, a bull calf, answered, "They disagree about where and when they should set up tonight's camp..." Shifu chuckled. "You do know that the shrine is over the next rize, right?".

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"Oh! I'm so excited! You younglings are hours away from becoming neophytes!" said the ever inthusiastic Re Quing, a lynxess. She was the keaper of the shrine, and sometimes slightly desprate for company. They had reached the shrine, and were settled into the barrack room. Tonight at midnight, one of them would attend a cerimony inside the shrine, and so one for each of them until they were all advanced learners. As expected, it took forever to fall asleep that night.

Tai awoke to Shifu shaking his shoulder. "It's time, my son." Tai leaped out of his bed, raced to the changing room, and got into his cerimonial robes so fast that he put both legs through one pants leg. Shifu almost laughed at the cub's antics.

"Focus, youngling, focus." Said Oogwei, inside the shrines meditation room. "I know, I know, but it's just so exciting!" Tai whined. Eventually, the cub calmed down, and entered his trance. It was said in the scrolls of kung fu that a student must meditate to recieve wisdom.

Oogwei entered a trance of his own, and was emediately surrounded by a colorful scene. It was the valley of peace, his home. At the middle of summer, the valley was at its peek in beauty. But something was off. A cloaked figue was walking through the streets, observing everything. For hours, the figure continued to search for something, oogwei didn't know what. Then it happened. As a family of tigers visiting from a nearby village walked by, the cloak dropped. A young female tiger picked it up, and handed it to the stranger, saying, "Here you are, sir. You dropped your cloak." the stranger took the cloak, and said, "Polite young lady, aren't you? To bad you won't live to see the light of day!" The tigress was terrified, and looked around for her family, which had disapeared. The stranger punched her, knocking her out cold. "Hey! What do you think your doing!" said a pig, standing nearby. "Mind your own buisness while you still have it!" said the stranger, and he lunged. the pig was dead before he could speak. "wow, that felt good." the stranger said. As more people gathered, tension grew. "Who are you?" a rabbit asked. The stranger merely smiled. "Your demise."

Oogwei then was taken to the valley later. Every building was destroyed. nothing was left alone. he found the tigress from before, almost dead, covered in dust, and crying,. "Why?" she said weekly. "NO!" Oogwei said. No, this wouldn't happen. This couldn't happen to his beloved valley. He had to do somethi-

"Master, are you ok?" a nervous voice broke his trance. Tai had been shaking the tortoise master. "Yes, it was just a horrible dream."

But he knew it was more that a dream. It was a prophecy.

Not twenty years later, Tai Lung was imprisoned for terrorism, and the first part of the prophecy came true. But what of the second?"

a/n: trust me, the story gets happier, just hang in there! and a shout out to whoever reviewed the first chapter! :)


	2. Chapter 2, introductions

Chapter two, introductions.

twenty years after the incident at the shrine.

Tigress awoke from her sleep. The world is a bright place for a five year old with a new family.

She stretched and climbed out of her bed, looking around her room. Fair enough, it was pretty plain, blue paper walls, a bookshelf, (filled with her five new books, one on kung fu, one on herbs and other medicinal cures, and three on the Hunger Games, Tigress's favorite story) a clothes chest, her bed, and

an old red knit blanket hung on the wall. But to her, it was ultimate luxury.

By looking out her window, she could see it was about five A.M., the perfect time to do some yoga.

She changed into a green vest style blouse and yoga pants. Racing outside into the barracks, she giggled as the predawn mist tickled her nose.

"Well, look who's up nice and early!" Said mistress Di Aei, the palace cook and a grandmother like doe,

"I bet I know what you want for breakfast!" Tigress smiled. "Zhatsu gou?" "You bet, Xiao Tian"

(zhatsu gou is fried potatoes, and Xiao Tian is a term of endearment, meaning, Little Sweet)

The deer prepared the food, and the duo sat down to eat.

Tigress was apprehensive about school. Shifu told her she had nothing to worry about, and her best friend, a wolf pup named Gao, was excited. "Don't worry, Ti! School is a lot of fun! our teacher, Mr. Ying, is very nice, and my other friends can't wait to meet you!"

Gao had been going to school all year, but today was Tigress's first time. "Good morning, class!" said Mr. Ying, a falcon. "it's good to see you all again, and it looks like we have a new student!" He waved for Tigress to come up to his desk. "Hello, little girl, what's your name?" he asked kindly. "Um, Tigress."

Tigress replied. Mr. Ying chuckled a tiny bit. "Name, not species. Unless, Is your name Tigris, T-I-G-R-I-S?" "No, it's Tigress, T-I-G-R-E-S-S." confused, Mr. Ying wrote that down on his student list. He smiled at her, and told her she could go back to her seat. "Alright, class. We have a few minutes until class begins, so you can talk amongst yourselves and get introduced to Tigress."

At lunch, Gao directed Ti to his normal table in the courtyard of the school building. She immediately noticed that the table was occupied by five other students. "Hey, guys. This is Tigress, and she's my friend." Gao introduced her. "Tigress, this is Po," he pointed to a large and friendly looking panda cub. "this is Tae," he pointed to a peacock boy, and he went around, introducing his sister, Yuo, a monkey named Fei, And a rat snake named Ju. Po was the first to say hi, followed by Fei. It was tense for a few moments, until Tae Began to tell a story about how, on the first day of school, he had spread out his tail so people wouldn't step on it, but his feathers had become lodged it the paper walls of the hallway, and he had gotten stuck. After that, everyone warmed up, and by the time lunch was over, it was like Ti had been with the group for years. Little did she know how many adventures she would go on with these friends, and how much she was going to need them.

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Shifu sat in his room, meditating. It was early on a Saturday morning, the day Tigress was going on a school field trip to Beijing for an overnight stay. He wasn't nervous, on the contrary, he was glad the cub had a chance to get away from the valley, to have fun with her friends. He was also glad that the path she was walking was not leading the same way her- , no, her brother's path had, that she would likely not become so focused on kung fu that she had no time for anything else.

Oogwei entered unheard. "My friend, if you are to say awake all night meditating, it's no wonder you're grumpy during the day!" Shifu opened his eyes, and sighed humoressly. (Which means he did the laughing/sighing thing that we all do sometimes, not a tipo for "humorlessly') "You think of your daughter," Oogwei translated. "Indeed, it seems only yesterday we found Wo Dey on the streets, Tigress was born, and her future was so unstable. Now, she is being trained in the noble arts, and is well on her way to a happy life." Shifu said fondly. Oogwei chuckled, but there was a hint of unease. "You know, we'll have to tell eventually," he pointed out. Shifu gave him a look that said 'please don't bring it up.'

a/n: I was running this through my word correct, and when it came to Oogwei, it thought I was trying to spell "booger"... ROFL, most literally. also, please review! I want your opinions! :)


	3. Chapter 3, festival of the sun

a/n: some of you were telling me about a formating issue, and I'm doing what I can about it. But the thing is, my typing tool is actually formatted differently that the chapter reader, so if I type it right on my computer, it may not look right when your reading it. I'm gonna try a solid singular paragraph format this chapter, so tell me which one you like better :) Without further ado,

Chapter 3, festival of the sun, age seven

"What's the cake gonna look like?" Fei asked. It was sun festival time, and this year, Mr. Ping had entrusted Po and his friends to bake the cake. Yuo had it all figured out. "Well, Po said that it's traditionally a chocolate cake, and wintergreen goes good with chocolate-" But Tae (Btw, Tae is pronounced Tay- ah) interrupted, "Sorry, guys. I'm allergic to chocolate..." they all looked at Po, Who threw his hands up. "Ok, the tradition isn't that strict. I can work with this." "I'm not allergic to cocoanut, but cocoanut doesn't go well with wintergreen." Tae added. So it was settled. The cake would be cocoanut and vanilla. Po took charge, giving out the following instructions; "Aright everybody, listen up. Ti, you and Ju go get some cocoanut from the merchants, Gao, Yuo, You two go to town and buy some milk and vanilla, and Fei, you're with me. We're going to start the baking!"

Ti, as she was now affectionately called, Raced with the small red snake all the way to the sea port part of the village, an impressive mile for a couple of seven year olds. Once they arrived, they found there way to a merchant that Mr. Ying was good friends with. "Mr. Soh! Mr. Soh!" Ju yelled at the hard-of-hearing albatross. "Eh? Does someone want me?" Mr. Soh said. Ti giggled. "Mr. Soh! (pronounced like 'saw' without the 'w' sound) We need some cocoanuts, Mr. Soh!" Ju hollered. "Ah! It's little Ju and a friend! What can I do for Yeh?" Mr. Soh said in broken Chinese. They purchased the cocoanuts and invited him to the festival.

Yuo pulled Gao through the streets, both of them laughing. The twins slowed the pace as they entered the town square, enjoying the festive lamps and delicious aromas coming from the vendor's carts. They headed to the cart of a vendor named Ms. Hu, a llama who sold milk-related ware. "Fresh milk, cheese and butter! Hello, little puppies! Free sample?" she said to the twins. "Thank you Ms. Hu, But today we need some milk and vanilla for Mr. Ping's Holiday cake." Gao answered. She laughed. "I'm invited, right?" "Of course! Everyone's welcome! Mr. Ping made point to tell us to tell you." Yuo said.

Back at the kitchen, Fei and Po got everything ready for the cake, stoking the cooking fire, prepping pans, and finally, they began to blend ingredients. As she mixed, the monkey asked Po, "do you like Tigress?" Po laughed. "No. She's more like a sister than a friend, anyway."

Several minutes later, Ti, Ju, Gao, and Yuo returned to the shop, carrying various things. The group put the finishing touches on the cake batter, and put it in the oven.

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That night, at the festival, The children carefully carried the two-layered cake decorated with sugar flowers and gold colored icing. Everyone exclaimed when they saw the stunning cake. Po had to help in the kitchen for a few more minutes, so the other kids found a spot in the park where they could eat dinner. Soon, Po found them, carrying a small travel pot of soup and many dumplings. They ate, and went to join the games in the square. When it was time for dancing, Fei and Yuo pulled Ti to Yuo's house, and the three of them changed into cute pink and orange dresses. They returned to the square, where the dancing had began. Yuo found a protesting Gao, and began to dance with him. Tigress found herself next to a snake dancer, and mimicked her, not knowing any other way to dance. The viper girl noticed Tigress, and backed away shyly. "I'm Tigress, what's your name?" the girl mumbled. "I can't hear you," Tigress said. "I-I-I'm Viper..." Viper said. "You can dance really well, can you teach me?" "O-ok..."

Hours later, the party was winding down, and Po told his friends to come to his house for the night. Tigress asked if Viper could come, but Viper said, "Sorry. M-my daddy and mommy want me to come back with them..." Ti was sad her new friend had to leave, but happy she got to stay overnight at Po's.

The group got ready for bed, and Mr. Ping had to come upstairs many times before they finally slept.

Tigress had a fascinating dream that night, which started with...

a/n: don don da! you're gonna hafta wait to hear her dream! mwa ha ha! Thank you to all you who are reading this story and reviewing! plz keep reviewing! :)


	4. Chapter 4, The Dream

Chapter 4- The Dream

In the dream, Tigress stood, invisible, in a forest glen. In the center, stood a beautiful- if not rather old- house. A male tiger in the Imperial Army uniform was walking towards the house, humming pleasantly. At the door was a young tigress, who said, "Father! You're home! Mother, Father's home!" And rushed out to meet him. The girl's Father picked her up and hugged her tightly. Tigress tried to get closer, But she stepped on a twig, breaking it. The male tiger looked up, but couldn't see Tigress, of course. "Who's there?" He asked, "show yourself."

The glen faded, and then Tigress was at the palace, in the infirmary. Shifu and Oogway were sitting down outside the door to a specific room, (which Tigress could not remember) talking in hushed voices. Tigress thought she caught fragments like, "I hope," or "What now?' and once she swore she heard the name, Wo Dey, (I know I said very few Chinese names had 'y's in them, but her's actually does, it means, 'my lady') but everything else was mumbled.

Next, she was taken to Chor Gom prison, and for a few seconds, she was able to see the infamous prisoner, Tai Lung. But before she knew it, she was at the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, overlooking the mountains. She was resting against the tree, watching the leaves swish in the breeze. She heard a voice humming a song that she found oddly familiar, and then, (I think that KFP took place at a similar time period...) a small fragment of a song by Meowzart, a popular pianist. She remembered the song from somewhere, but couldn't name it. Suddenly, she was awakening, and then she was on the floor of Po's bedroom, in a blanket fort the children had built the night before. It was only later that she realized that the song the male tiger had been humming and the first song the Peach Tree voice sang were the same song, Down In The Meadow, from The Hunger Games. She was left with an odd feeling from this dream, a feeling she should act opon her dream, but she had no idea how...

a/n: shout out to The Grey Coincidence, He writes really good stories! Also, I may not be able to post much during Christmas break, 'cause my dad doesn't want me on computer much, so I can spend time with my family. But I'm gonna try to get Chapter 5 out soon! :) Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5, Inner Peace, Outer Chaos

a/n: finally! I found my charger! super sorry about the long wait. If you have seen my profile, you'll know what this chapter is about, and I may possibly have figured out the formatting thing. In this chapter, I'm going to give every line of dialogue its own, uh, line, and hopefully that'll work better! ;) Thanks to everyone for the continued reviews, and about that Hunger Games Reference; maybe Su Crane (Suzanne Collins) was like some of the famous inventors in history, she was ahead of her time? ;) and now, the story!

Chapter Five, Inner Peace, Outer Chaos

"I understand perfectly the assignment, master. But why can't we just learn inner peace from you?" Tigress asked.

"Youngling, I may be good at inner peace, but trust me, you will learn better from master Ming Zao. He has spent the majority of his life studying peace, while I have spent my time following the art of combat." Shifu answered tactfully. Learning inner peace was definatly important, but a ten-year-old tiger and two eleven-year-old wolfs were a bit much for the ancient ground of the palace to handle 24/7. Already, the walls in the training hall sported several new cracks and holes, the result of the students erh, enthusiastic training. It was still too early to determine Tigress's unique style, though the next year Gao and Yuo would move on to advanced training.

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Running through the bamboo forest in their casual style, Ti, Gao and Yuo headed towards Fa Village. They had, of course, been trained to run upright, jogging in tight form, but Gao had discovered that running on all four paws was not only more fun, but faster. So whenever they were on an assignment which took them away from strict palace rules, the trio ran on all fours, nearly doubling their speed.  
By nightfall of the second day, Fa village was in sight.

The students entered the village inn,"Shui De Shu", and rented a room for the night. Soon a lively pillow-fight was being waged inside. The next morning, there was a knock on Master Zao's door, and the three students were welcomed inside. "Come in! Come in! Shifu sent you all the way here? With no escort?" The elderly owl ask. "Master Zao, thank you for your concern, but we are perfectly able to defend ourselves," Yuo responded. "Yes, yes but it's still a bad idea to send three minors all the way here without at least a messenger! I don't mean you're not welcome of course, my door is always open to learners, but still!" Zao insisted. It was impossible not to love the old master.  
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"Inner peace begins with mastery of thought and emotions. Before you can become one with the world, you must become one with yourself," Master Zao instructed them, "to begin, think of one thing. A memory, a color, a person, anything. Have one in mind?"  
The students nodded.  
"Now, close your eyes. Focus on that one thought. Block out everything else, you are thinking of only one thing. OH NO, BANDITS!" All three students sprang up and turned anxiously to the window, only to realize they had been fooled. Master Zao laughed. "So does that mean all three of you were thinking of a bandit attack?"

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Ti, Gao, and Yuo stayed with Master Zao for two months. At the end of which, the local school's kindergarten class could come in and play in the same room, yell, and even tickle the three students without getting so much as a twitch in return.  
On the day the trio was to leave for the Valley of Peace, Master Zao prepared a mini feast with tea, wontons, and cakes. "Please come back soon, young ones. Not only can I teach you much more, but I enjoyed your company!" He said.

The trip back to the palace was uneventful, other than their new skill of meditation seemed to give them more energy for longer traval days. In the end, they arrived at the Valley two full days before they were expected. Tigress wanted to go strait to the Palace, but Gao had another idea; "When else do you get to hang around the village when no one knows you're here?"

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"Fei, Fei! Wake up! C'mon! Wake up!" Tigress whispered, shaking the monkey. "Mph. Whuzgoinon?" Fei said sleepily. Gao had gone to get Po, and the four of them were going to pull off a massive prank, which Yuo had refused to be part of. "We need you to help us with something important," said Tigress.  
Fei rubbed her face. "Can't it wait 'til morning?"  
Tigress shook her head. "No. It has to be tonight. Are you familiar with the term 'xing yan hua?"

Gao, in the town square, had successfully roused Po and was contemplating how many fireworks to buy. "Isn't it stealing if no one's here?" the panda asked. "Not if you leave a really big tip! Gao answered as he both paid for the fireworks and left extra.

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Near the marketplace, where there was a well, Ti and Fei Met up with Gao and Po. The 'xing yan hua', or 'mega fireworks' prank was executed by building a very small platform inside a well, setting up fireworks inside,and then lighting the fireworks remotely using a long fuse. The results were both spectacular and terrifying.

As sunrise broke over the Valley of peace, not one soul other than the children knew what was about to go down. The fireworks were set, the fuse ready, all that was left to do was for Po to go to his house, get his dad, and tell him that something was wrong with the well-crank. "Po, are you absolutely sure that the crank is broken?" Mr. Ping asked in annoyance,  
"it's still about an hour before I normally get up." "Yes, it's broken badly enough I can't get the bucket up with the water." Po answered. Mr. Ping examined the well-crank in mounting frustration. "Po, this crank is perfectly fine. I-"  
And that's when the fireworks went off. Spouts of red and green, showers of golden sparks, and lots of noise. Mr. Ping, terrified, stepped backwards, tripped, and ran off, yelling. Po, folowing what HAD been an agreed opon plan, ran off yelling to. But Gao noticed that the fireworks were lasting much, much longer than they had planned for, so he pulled the girls into a hiding place behind a building. In less that five minutes, the entire village was out on the street, shouting in fear or protest, until one smart (or so he thought) pig ran to the river, grabbed a bucket of water, ran back, and poured it down the well. Unfortunately, the stream of water merely knocked the fireworks off course, and now, fireworks were spraying everywhere! People ran this way and that. "How many fireworks did you put in that thing?!" Tigress asked.  
Fei was terrified. "TEN!" she said.  
"Maybe there were already fireworks in the well from a previous prank or something!" Gao said, equally terrified.

BOOM! SPLAT! FIZZ! BOOM! HISSS!

"WHAT IN THE NEW MOON WAS THAT?!" Ti hollered.  
They ran out of hiding, just in time to see the Old Outhouse go up in smoke.

The Old Outhouse, as it was called, was a very controversial building. Most people wanted to tear it down, but nobody seemed to have time. It was older that most of the young people in the village, and recently, some of the children had started a rumor that it was haunted. In truth, it wasn't an outhouse, but a tool shed that looked like it was made about the same time fire was invented. Its supporters said it gave the village a quaint, old-timey look that most villages lacked, but again, with a name like Old Outhouse, it was bound to be ridiculed. Po, brought by the noise, came back to discover the other three children cringing every time a timber cracked.  
"Guys, why didn't you run like in the plan?" he asked. "Well," Fei sighed, "The plan went a little wrong..."

"Kitchen patrol. This month and next. and no leaving the palace during that time. You four should have known better."  
Was Shifu's only response. But once he returned to his room, Tigress thought she could hear a noise like chuckling. Oogway, who had been sitting there the whole time, now said, "Shifu isn't wrong. A minor prank would have been one thing, but this was entirely different. On a separate note, the village council has decided not to rebuild the Old Outhouse, and no one was hurt. Good one."

That evening, Tigress found that her bed had been shortsheeted.

a/n: woo hoo! that was so much fun to write! hope you liked it as much as I did! Three notes. One, the Shui De Shu means the Sleeping Tree, which I thought was a creative name for an inn, two, the wontons mentioned would be made from seafood of some kind, NOT MINCED PORK! and three, the Old Outhouse was taken from the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, where there was a hideous old prison building, and this was my ideal fate for that thing, lol. Also, I'm sorry I kinda left a cliffhanger in chapter four, it was not intentional. Tigress is going to continue to have these dreams for the rest of her story, but not know what to do about them. I won't say anything else about it yet, 'cuz it'll ruin the plot, so hang in there! ;)


	6. Chapter 6, A Surprise Meeting

a/n:This will be a super- short chapter based on the end of Secrets of the Scroll. Sorry, but I have writer's block about the whole thing... anyway, the dialogue will be slightly modified to fit the, well, I don't want to give it away! Also, I watched the short film before writing this, but my siblings couldn't stand me pausing it a bunch to write down dialogue, so another reason it might a bit off.

Chapter 6, A Surprise Meeting

"Your technique is sloppy. Training will begin immediately." Master Shifu said in a monotone.

Tigress sighed and entered the ridged form.

"What are you doing?" Master Shifu demanded, "this way."

Confused, Ti followed her master up the stairs to a door she had long wondered about.

Shifu smiled slyly and pushed open the door. Tigress couldn't believe her eyes. It was a training arena that contained everything from spiked clubs to wooden warriors to a platform of fire.

He turned to the others in the courtyard, first saying to mantis,

"You are small, but I already know how much pain you can inflict."

Mantis chuckled.

Then to Monkey,

"four hands, you should be able to handle this," and he handed Monkey a bamboo pole, which monkey caught with his back foot/hand.

Then to Crane,

"your limbs, whatever their nature, will become your shields, your weapons, your greatest allies,"

and finally to Viper,

"no arms, hm?"

"Nope," she giggled.

"Well, we'll figure something out."

Shifu turned again to Tigress.

"You have reached the next and possibly the most important faze of training; learning freestyle. Any great master starts the way you did, in tight, unnatural form. Once you master that, you can master anything." He said, smiling.

The newly formed 'Furious Five' trained all the rest of that day and into the night. Learning kung fu took much practice, but Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis learned quickly.

Close to midnight the five warriors headed to the barracks for some sleep. When they reached the kitchen, they were surprised to find Tae, Ju, Fei and Po had come up from the village to cheer on the new group. Tigress introduced her new friend to her old ones, and it was soon decided that it was never too late to celebrate with your friends.

After about an hour of fun, the Five were ready for sleep and their friends ready to head home. Tigress headed sleepily to her room, happy beyond reason about the past two days. She had helped save the valley, made some amazing new friends, discovered her fighting style and impressed her father. At the 'party', Po had hundreds of questions about kung fu, and she felt confident he would eventually pursue this path. (Little did she know how much this panda would effect the next major events in her life!)

Now, at about 1:00 in the morning, she made it to her room and fell onto her bed. She was about to fall asleep when she heard a soft knock on her door.

"Come in?" She said hesitantly.

Gao stuck his head through the door, smiling. Tigress jumped up and Gao gave her a bear hug.

"I'm so proud of you. But honestly, did'ja have to show me up like that?" He teased her.

She responded by mock-punching his arm.

Gao mimed being knocked over by the ferocious punch and both of them laughed. He then messed up the fur on top of her head and ran away before she could get him back.

It was only later that Tigress realized that her wolf friend had looked especially stressed, and his fifteen years looked more like thirty. But Tigress put it out of her mind, thinking it was most likely the past two days. On the day before yesterday, he had actually seen the Boar coming and run all the way back to the Jade Palace to warn them. Even though the wolf was trained to run great distances without becoming fatigued, thirty miles was more than just about anyone could handle.

At about the same time, heading down the steps of the Jade Palace, Fei, Tae, Ju and Po were still talking about the heroics that had went down yesterday. At the same time, Ke Bai, a red panda and an attendant at the Jade Place, was going up the stairs, as she was on night guard duty in the Hall of Legends. The others had met Ke around the palace, but Po had never seen her before. When they passed each other, Fei fist-bumped the red panda.

"Ke, I don't think you've met my friend Po," she said, gesturing to Po.

"Hi there," Ke said shyly.

"Hey," Po said back.

And Ke hurried up the stairs. Fei shrugged off Po's questioning look.

"She's just a naturally shy person, I guess."

"But she let you fist-bump her," Po pointed out.

"Who knows?" Fei sighed.

Once safely inside the glistening jade room, Ke let out a breath of relief. She didn't know what it was with here and boys, but she just froze up and couldn't think.

"ah, I assume this means you've met the panda cub that often comes to the palace," Master Oogway's voice came from behind her.

Ke sighed. "Master, if you're here, doesn't that mean a night guard isn't necessary?"

She knew the tortoise's habit of meditating in this room.

"Yes, but then I would be lonely, and You wouldn't have met a new friend!" Oogway laughed.

a/n: ok...That took way longer than I thought it would... And ended up getting finished at 11:19 at night.

(Thank goodness not a school night!) Two notes: one, Yuo didn't come into this chapter for a reason to be discovered later and two, don't gripe at me for not shipping TiPo! Po is going to be shipped with Ke, and Tigress actually isn't shipped with anyone in this story, (I might change my mind later, but as of now...) even though right now it might seem like Gao likes her. See you later! Thanks for reading! ;)


	7. Chapter 7, Warnings At Night

a/n: So, the last chapter took way longer than it should have to come out, so to make up for it, I'm going to try to get this chapter out within a day or two. I do want to say, even though there will be a tiny bit of romance in a few chapters, this story is not at all focused on it :p :) This chapter might be a little sad, but it's part of the plot. It will get happy again soon! This chapter has another Hunger Games music reference (I was going to maybe call them the Bengal Games instead, but in this chapter there's another 'Bengal', so it might have been redundant.) and another Meowzart pun, but as of now, I don't know of any other way to convey the message in the dream! If you think of one, tell me and I will probably use it.

Chapter Seven, Warnings at Night

Ten months of training proved the Five's ability to fight was superb. Alone, any one of them was as skilled as an advanced learner even though they were technically still at basics. But together, they were truly formidable. Practice continued, most of the time inside the arena, but often leading out into the forest.

The wake up call bell sounded at six in the morning, but Tigress was already awake, puzzling over her latest dream. The odd dreams had become more frequent as life went on, and recently they had revolved around a strange scene:

Two cloaked figures, one tall and youthful, the other slightly hunched, walked swiftly through the street, under the cover of darkness. The shorter one seemed to be trying to convince the taller one of something, but couldn't. When they arrived at a building that Tigress almost recognized, the shorter one knocked on the door, and an ewe answered.

"Master Oogway! You're here-" She started,

"Shh, Madam Ren, we don't want to wake her," Oogway whispered, and looked at the tall figure beside him.

"Wo , it is time. I once more beg you, do not leave her. You will regret it."

The other figure shook her head.

"Master, I cannot keep her. It would be a dishonor on my family if I were to raise a child without her father,"

Oogway shook his head sadly. The female figure handed a small bundle wrapped tenderly in a quilt to Madam Ren, who smiled down at the baby.

"Master Oogway, if you leave her here, I might just keep her for myself, she's so cute," Madam Ren joked.

"Indeed, she is beautiful. But two old men and few palace attendants can't take care of an infant as small as her. Even Tai was older than she is when we found him," Oogway smiled as he remembered the joyous cub.

Madam Ren took the baby into the building Tigress now realized was the Bao Gu Orphanage.

The scene then turned to a sea port, where a young tigress with very gentle facial features was boarding a ship.

"ALL ABOARD FOR THE BAY OF BENGAL! ALL ABOARD!" Was being called out by the cabin boy, a crocodile who was clearly enjoying the novelty of shouting.

The tigress hurried up the plank, and a mongoose took her luggage below deck.

"So, Miss, where're you headed?" The mongoose asked.

"Orissa, then a monistary." She responded.

The mongoose nodded and headed off, going about his duty.

Again, the scene changed, and as in all dreams, she was at the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom, where two songs playing softly, one familiar from a previous dream, the other new.

This time, Tigress could clearly distinguish the lyrics to the new song, The Hanging Tree from her favorite book, the Hunger Games:

'Strange things did happen there,

No stranger would it be,

If we **met up** at midnight at the hanging tree'

The phrase, 'met up' was emphasized, and the song's chorus was sung again and again.

The other song, the one by Meowzart, began with its sweet, airy notes, and this time, Tigress knew the song's title, having found a list of the artist's songs in the documents in the palace library.

The song was titled, 'Come to the Place Where I Was Born'.

And that was how the dream ended, leaving Tigress more confused than before.

But for now, Tigress stopped stressing about her dream and prepared for the day. At 6:05 sharp, she was outside her door, along with the other four students.

"Good morning, Master," they all said as the red panda walked down the hallway.

"Good morning indeed, my students. After breakfast, instead of training, go down to the village and patrol the outside edge. Today you all will begin putting your skills to use, protecting the valley of peace." Shifu said.

Later that morning, Tigress was at the western edge of the town, supposed to be guarding it but drifting off in thought. Was the tigress in the dream her? No, Wo Dey wasn't her name,obviously, and she was pretty sure Oogway wasn't going to call her his 'lady'. Why would the mother tigress abandoning her cub? This whole thing had something to do with Tai Lung, but what? But for now, there was someone coming along the path to the town. A rhino, and in a bad mood it would seem.

"Hello?" Tigress called, trying to be friendly.

"Has there been some kind of attack?!" The rhino demanded.

"N-no! I'm a student at the Jade Palace, and I'm on duty today," explained.

"Then you'll know how to take me there. I am here to see Shifu, with a message from Chor Gom prison."

"...Ok, I'll escort you to the Palace, please follow me..."

She began walking towards the jade mountain.

Apon reaching the top of the thousand stairs, Tigress lead the rhino messenger into the Hall of Wonders.

"Wait here," she said, and went to get Shifu.

"Master, there's a rhino in the hall wanting to see you, but he looks...?" Ti told her meditating master.

"Hmm? Oh, Cu Lei is here. Send him in at once," Shifu said pleasantly.

Tigress, relieved, brought in the rhino messenger, who bowed politely to Shifu.

" Lei! Good to see you. How was the trip?" Shifu inquired.

"Not bad, thank you. But you would not believe how annoying pannuceum wasps are when you accidentally hit their nest with the tip of your head. Kept going on and on about unprovoked attack. I was stuck there for close to an hour apologizing. And then your student here eyes me like I'm gonna destroy the valley or something." Lei responded casually.

Tigress flicked her ears back in embarrassment. She hadn't trusted the rhino, but he had just been delivering a message.

"Ah, Tigress, you can go back to your duty, and maybe let one of the other students take the perimeter. Now, my friend. What news do you bring from Chor Gom?"

Swiftly heading to the back door, Tigress was stopped by a voice.

"A little jumpy, aren't you?" Oogway chuckled.

"Huh?"

"True, Cu Lei is a bit rough on the outside, but he's a very nice person," Oogway said.

"Oh, yes... I guess I kind of judged him before I met him. I'm sorry..."

"Don't apologize to me! He'll be out in a while, apologize to him."

"Right. I'll do that." Tigress finished.

a/n: ok, this chapter is just tying things together between major events, and I have always been curious as to how one of the Five would respond to a character that would be less heroic and cool. The next chapter is likely going to skip over a couple years, giving an overview of the years between 'now' and the first KFP movie. until next time, thanks for reading! :)


	8. Chapter 8, Time Passes

Chapter Eight, Time Passes

Life continued as normal as was possible for the occupants of the Jade Palace.

Joyful moments were cherished, like Viper's parents coming all the way to the Valley to surprise her on her sixteenth birthday, sad moments survived, as when Yuo sadly announced that she was no longer going to follow the path of kung fu. A relationship between Po and Ke Bai slowely blossomed, and Master Oogway's health began to go down hill.

In one encounter, at the Five's ceremony on Amber Mountain, Tigress had a strange vision in which the only prisoner of Chor Gom prison, Tai Lung, seemed to be regretting something he had done before his imprisonment.

For the next eight years, the Valley lived in peace. But something was to change, and soon.

Master Oogway awoke one night from a deep sleep. He had had a disturbing dream that night, not unlike the prediction he witnessed many years prior. The dream almost screamed a warning that danger was just around the corner, that Tai Lung wouldn't stay subdued forever. He knew what he needed to do. As soon as was possible, the Dragon Warrior had to be chosen.

Tigress was the obvious candidate, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the hero would come from elsewhere. That there would be an...Accident?

a/n: sorry about the short chapter, the next one will be the first half of KFP 1. I am gonna divide the movie into two chapters because I need to tell fragments from three different points of view. Also, on Oogway, I feel like he wasn't in good health in the first movie, because (I know he was also very old, but) he specifically states his fear that he wouldn't live to see the dragon warrior. My editor wasn't working, so if this chapter has any issues, sorry. Thanks for reading! :) **Note: This chapter has had a revision made to it, but if you see anything I missed, please tell me so I can continue to improve.**


	9. Chapter 9, Return of Tai, Part One

a/n: Oh. My Gosh. I am so sorry I can't seem to get chapters out at a more timely pace. Like, when this story was in my head, it was a really cool idea, but, now that I get it out onto the internet it feels very weak. I'm going to try to be more consistent, but am the worst procrastinator I know. (Yes, eve worse than that guy on a warriors forum that was supposed to review my character 5 freaking years ago. I haven't forgotten you, Venomstar.(It also wasn't on this website so if there's a Venomstar here no insult)) One main reason this chapter is late is because in addition to fanfiction, I am a fiction writer attempting to get my first book published, so fanfics aren't at the top of my mind, and also a ninth grade student. Anyway, no more about my life. On with the story!

From behind the arena door, Tigress could here Master Shifu introducing the to the audience. The Five waited for the signal before their intrance. Bursting through the door and leaping high into the air, they performed a few hammed-up moves, before landing gracefully in the courtyard. On the outside, Ti was cool and collected, ready for the tornament, but within she was bubbling with excitement. This was the day Master Oogway would choose the Dragon Warrior. 'I bet it's Crane. He's probably the best. Or Viper. I bet it's Crane, but I hope it's me.' She thought.

The others were completing their trials with persision and excelence, but the trials were mostly just for show. The point of having an event instead of a quiet choosing was to give the public a chance to recognize the Warrior at once.

It was her turn, she stepped out onto the field, getting into a battle stance, but just then, a gong rang out.

"Master Oogway will now choose the Dragon Warrior!" Shifu announced.

The five swiftly assembled. Oogway was moments away from deciding. He held his finger upward to the sky, before pointing at...

At this moment, time slowed to a near stop. Tigress was sick with anticipation. Was Oogway about to point at her? It seemed that way! What was that yelling noise? It could wait. She dared to believe it; she was going to be the Drag-

Viper pulled her out of the way before the panda crushed her. Oogway opened his eye. And stared, mildly amused at this turn of events.

"Oh my head... Oh my...Wait..why're you pointing..."

"PO?!" Shifu raged.

"The universe has brought us the Dragon Warrior!" oogway declared.

"What the.." Ti began.

"...WhAt?" Po asked.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

This couldn't be happening. Po couldn't be the Dragon Warrior. He hardly knew how to throw a punch!

Tigress steamed on the way up to the barrack.

"...Fell out of the sky on a...Ball of Fire!" Crane joked.

"Oh be nice! Just because he can't do Kung Fu now doesn't mean he will never be able to!" Viper snapped.

"we'll see. For now let's hope he can at least touch his toes." Mantis said.

Viper smacked him with her tail. Toes were overrated, in her opinion.

Po hadn't heard Viper defending him, but it probably wouldn't have mattered if he had. It had been an accident! It's not like he _tried_ to become Dragon Warrior, and it's not like he wasn't sorry. Now, walking as carefully as he could over the squeaky floorboards, he was startled by Tigress opening the door behind him.

"Ti! I-" He whipsered loudly.

""No. Don't say anything. I know you got to the arena late, I bet you didn't think to open the door the other way, and you arethe only person in this valley besides maybe Gao crazy enough to launch himself into the air with a ROCKET CHAIR and not think something would go wrong. It may have been an accident, but it sure could have been avoided."

"I-I thought you wanted me to do Kung Fu?"

"Yeah, but not by RUINING something my partners and I have devoted our LIVES to!"

"Hey, that's a little much. I Get it means a lot to you, but... Isn't Kung Fu about defending people who can't defend themselves?"

"Yes but- It's like- GAH! You know what I mean!" She finished, before slamming the door.

"I'm still a big fan..." He said.

Po didn't sleep in the barracks that night; he left the buildings behind and walked up the path towards the Peach Tree.


	10. Chapter 10, Return of Tai, Part Two

a/n: I have a little more time on my hands lately, so yeah.

also, so nobody is confused, this chapter is from Tai Lung's perspective. Also also, this chapter might slip out of the rating I gave it, because hey, Chor Gom is a pretty bad place.

Taking a deep breath, Tai Lung shifted positions from one knee to the other. The chains that bound him were attached to something very heavy below the pillar, but he couldn't see what they were and never had been able to. Twenty years he had been chained to this cursed pillar, twenty years he had learned to lift the horrible weights that dangled from his wrists. In that time he had grown strong. In fact, if his prison was as simple as the chains, he would have broken out long ago. But of course, the trap was designed by Oogway himself, so that if he stood up, he would be impaled by the spikes inside the shell he wore.

What was this? The shaft platform was coming down. This normally happened once a day, when a guard came to feed him or clean.

The platform came to a halt and the gate lowered. Though Tai's eyes were closed, he could hear the tromping of a rhino and the pad of a goose.

"Hey, Tough Guy!" The rhino said, "guess what: Oogway's finally gonna pick someone to be the dragon warrior and it's NOT gonna be you"

The goose mumbled fiercely about not making him mad, but the guard just said, "What's he gonna do. I've got him completely immobilized," before stepping hard on Tai's tail.

'No one touches the tail.' Tai thought. 'No one touches the tail. You will pay.'

It wasn't his pride in his tail for its own sake; more that twitching and waving his tail was the single thing that kept him vaguely sane these long years.

The rhino teased him for a few more minutes, before leading the terrified goose away.

something fell softly in front of him. Opening his eyes, he found a goose feather inches from his tail. Suddenly, a wild plan came to the snow leopard's mind. Could a feather pick a lock?

Tai lifted the feather with his tail, whisking it into the keyhole. He batted it around three or four times before hearing it click into place. One more flick, and the shell was lifting. Hope swelled in his heart. This could actually work. He breathed deeper in those twenty seconds than he had in twenty years. The spikes were on the floor. Tai stretched his back, crumbling the remainder of the shell.

Calls of, "Tai Lung is free!" rang through the pit. Crossbows were aimed at him, but now, he had the upper hand. The shots came, Tai dodged out of the way, and a huge arrow shattered the cuff on his left hand! He swiftly broke through the other, and stretched up to his full height.

"This is going to be fun."

Leaping from walls, dodging arrows, all in semi darkness, this was LIVING. Tai dealt with the guards brutally but effectively, leaving not one alive.

Half an hour of pure adrenalin later, he stood staring out over the mountains, goose in hand.

"I'm glad Shifu sent you...I was beginning to think I was forgotten."

The goose gulped.

"Fly back there and tell them...The REAL dragon warrior is coming home."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Before the "Real Dragon Warrior" could go home, however, he made a pit stop in a nearby village. First, he stole some new clothes, then he went to the village healer. Dressed in traveler's robes and with ash disguising his markings, he was confident no one would recognize him. The healer was a wolf by the name of Yuo.

"What can I do for you?" She said cheerfully.

"Yes, do you have salve for rope burn?"

"I do indeed, may I see the burns though? Depending on how bad it is, you might want to try another remedy first."

Tai showed her his wrists, where the cuffs had left lingering blisters and bruises.

The girl's absentminded air melted away when she saw the wounds.

"How..How did you get those? If it were simply a rope burn, I would say apply this salve or take tea or whatever. These...Look like they were chained for years."

"Imperial army," Tai lied, "sometimes bad things happen."

The girl washed and bandaged them, telling him to not use them for anything big for a week or two. She handed him a paper packet of chamomile, aloe vera, and calendula.

"Tomorrow morning, boil these and soak your hands in them. Try to keep them bandaged."

That evening, at the inn, Tai slept on a couch in the parlor. (He had no money to rent a room.) It wasn't an ideal sleeping situation, but the owner allowed it, if it was just for the night.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ten days later found Gao and the furious five scowling across the bridge at Tai.

He felt he could easily defeat these teenagers, but there was something odd about one of them. That tiger looked awfully familiar...Where had he seen him before?

'Wait, that's a girl. Is that tigress the dragon warrior? I just can't shake the feeling I've seen her somewhere...Oh, wait. How? I thought she was dead!' He thought.

The leopard raced out towards the bridge, but realized the trap a second to late. One of the warriors cut the ropes, and the bridge began to fall! With the bridge's final momentum working against him, Tai leapt towards the group, only to be hit by a flying kick from the tigress. The wolf grabbed her legs before she could fall, and Tai began descending into the mist.

He caught hold of a ledge a few feet down, and listened for the warriors' response.

When he thought their guard was down, he climbed back up the cliff and took a flying leap, landing behind them.

"Shifu taught you well," He sneered, before lunging and nerve binding the monkey, "but he didn't teach you everythi-"

He was being attacked from every angle by the five remaining. He was able to bind all but the tigress, who knocked him down.

"Oh I think he taught us better than you," She said, "you were a fool to think you could return here."

"Where's the dragon warrior?"

"how do you know you're not looking at her?"

"Oh no. I know Shifu would never make a princess like you dragon warrior,"

"What?"

"You think I don't recognize you? I have been left for twenty years thinking of the night of my rampage and little else. You think you weren't a part of that?"

"I wasn't born when you terrorized this place. How dare you accuse me of being your accomplice!"

Tai shook his head and laughed.

"Who said anything about accomplices?" He finished, distracting her long enough to kick her feet out from under her! Tigress fell to the ground, and before she could react, Tai nerve binded her.

"And that's another thing. Don't watch the eyes. Watch the hands. I'll see you later, Wo Dey."

A/N: ick. This chapter makes me feel guilty cuz I basically butchered the most famous Five scene in the franchise. Gao kinda needs to be in there for plot reasons, but a good percent of what happened in this chapter was ad-libbed.(don't get me wrong, I like this chapter as much as chapter 5, it's just... ick.) I guess the "the wolf, the tigress, the warriors" trope isn't the best, but how do you label a bunch of people when you don't know their names? and yes, I did steal a joke from the Spiderverse...Deal with it.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review!

Thanks bunches!

-Della


	11. INTERLUDE: I wonder

a/n: this isn't part of the regular story, just somebody pointed it out the other day on #CinemaWin's channel. enjoy.

"Po! Wake up! Wake up! You'll be late for work!"

Mr. Ping called from downstairs.

Po grumbled and sat up, looking around his room. It was generally covered in kung fu paraphinallia, with posters, model weapons, even action figures of the furious five. On the wall, he had drawn a picture of a bull's head, using it as a bull's eye for his shurigan-throwing practise.

'I wonder...' Po thought absentmindedly, 'that bull's head couldn't be like, a foreshadowing of some time in my life when I'll get to fight a bull warrior and save China? Maybe a bull with some weird connection to Master Shifu? Nah, that'll never happen.'


	12. Chapter 11, What Happened Afterwards

a/n: so, been working on other bits of fanfiction lately as you can tell, and I actually have like five other Dear Della ideas whenever I get the chance to write 'em. I'm pretty sure at this point I need to officially change the rating, so I'm going to do that if I can. I doubt there are any smol ones reading this but if there are, erh, maybe go do something else. I'll right stuff for kids at somepoint. (Don't get me wrong, there will continue to be nothing bad, but some of the plot is a bit advanced for smol ones.) (Also, I'm just breaking down and making Gao a member of the Five in this AU. I'm sorry, it has to be done.)

Tigress's mind was reelling. Wo Dey? Like, the Wo Dey that kept popping up in her dreams? That wasn't...Her, was it? How did Tai Lung know about Wo? Tigress knew she looked nothing like the gentle-faced tigress in her dreams, but, Tai still mistook her? What even?

The last two days had been like some type of dream. When the Five got back to the Jade Palace, Tai was on his way to the warpath and Po and Master Shifu had just returned from a private training session.

The Six had guiltilly broke the news that they had fought him, and after the crushing disapointment of the Dragon Scroll, Shifu sent them to evacuate the valley.

Just as all hope seemed lost and the Six were leading hundreds of frightened villagers into the mountains, A wave of golden dust washed over everyone.

Things turned around at an alarming rate, and suddenly, Po had figured out the Dragon Scroll and Shifu was finally at peace.

Weird...

On the rooftop of the stadium in the predawn, Tigress puzzled all these things. Her dream last night had simply been a tigress nun going about day-to-day buisness cleaning and tidying a monestary, but increasingly tinged with gold as the dream progressed. Nothing made a lot of sense, but Tigress was beginning to piece together a vague storyline for the tigress known as Wo Dey.

She had been born in a wealthy, very traditional family, had some connection to Master Oogway,

Had an illigitimate child and given the child to an orphanage, and left to become a nun.

If it had been purely a dream she would have thought nothing of it, but then...Tai seemed to know exactly who Wo Dey was.

Then there was the Hunger Games songs, which made even less sense. They seemed to be pointing to meeting someone, but... Huh?

The six o'clock bell rang. The day was beginning.

'I'll see if I can find anything in the library about this,' Tigress thought as she left the stadium.


End file.
